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How the right won the internet
In the second part of our series on digital politics, we look at how online provocateurs have advanced extreme political ideas – and watched them seep into the mainstream, says digital media academic Robert Topinka
Protesters to demand resignation of Hungarian politician for anti-Roma remark
Thousands set to gather in Budapest after János Lázár’s remarks captured on video
Democrats Menefee and Edwards compete for a House seat that will narrow GOP's slim majority
Democrats Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards are competing for a vacant U.S. House seat from Houston
US government shuts down partially over homeland security funding
Democratic senators refuse to vote for bill authorizing continued DHS spending after killings of two US citizens
WMG’s Paul Robinson Accepts Entertainment Law Initiative Award: ‘Absolutely Thrilled’
WMG general counsel Paul Robinson received the Recording Academy’s 2026 Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Service Award. Here's a recap of the event.
Anti-ICE protests take place nationwide
Protesters across the nation participated in a general strike on Friday, demonstrating against ICE presence in some cities.
Fresno protests, student walkouts and business closures mark nationwide strike against ICE
A nationwide strike brought protests, student walkouts and business closures to Fresno as demonstrators voiced opposition to the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown.
Senate passes government funding deal despite GOP backlash
President Donald Trump made a deal with Democrats to carve out Homeland Security funding and allow Congress to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country.
"We bring that level of entertainment closer to home": Monster truck show set to take over Med City
Monster trucks are coming to the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester Saturday with demolition, freestyle tricks, races and more.
Senate Passes Deal to Fund Government and Negotiate ICE Limits
Democrats agreed to fund the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks while they negotiate with President Trump on restricting his immigration crackdown.
Shutdown nears as lawmakers brace for next round of ICE negotiations
Over the next two weeks, Democrats and Republicans will weigh competing demands on changes to Department of Homeland Security operations.
Epstein files release raises key question for Trump administration: From the Politics Desk
Plus, a Democratic divide in California with 2026 and 2028 campaign implications.
Some Republicans Lament the Spending Deal Trump Has Blessed
Hard-right Republicans have criticized an agreement they see as capitulating to Democrats on their party’s strongest issue: immigration.
Another government shutdown looms -- what you need to know : The NPR Politics Podcast
After immigration officials killed two people in Minneapolis this month, congressional Democrats demanded funding for immigration action be separated from other government funding. That's leading to a potential, partial, government shutdown. We unpack the latest from Capitol Hill.Then, why did the FBI raid Fulton County, Ga.'s election center this week, and what does it have to do with President Trump's continued false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen?And, we bid a fond farewell to one of our podcast stalwarts.This episode: senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith, congressional reporter Sam Gringlas, immigration policy correspondent Ximena Bustillo, political reporter Stephen Fowler, senior political editor & correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and political correspondent Sarah McCammon.This podcast was produced and edited by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs.Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
Bill Maher Says Hollywood Hurting Democratic Party: “Just Shut the F*** Up”
The HBO host and comic is blaming the "woke" entertainment industry for election losses and chiming in on the local state of play in California and L.A.
Nevada's first-in-the-nation primary bid gets boost from political group Latino Victory
Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina are vying to be the first state to vote in the 2028 Democratic presidential primaries.
County Health Endorses American Academy Of Pediatrics 2026 Child And Adolescent Immunization Schedule
Santa Barbara County Health Department endorses American Academy of Pediatrics’ 2026 Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule
Deadline Approaching for MHA Healthcare Leadership Academy - MHA | Michigan Health & Hospital Association
The enrollment deadline for the MHA Healthcare Leadership Academy (HCLA) is Feb. 6. The cohort meets Feb. 25-27 and May 7-8 at the MHA headquarters in Okemos.
He’s a Democratic mayor in a red state. Is he worried Trump will target his city next?
Samsung’s $2,900 Galaxy Z TriFold sells out in minutes despite offering no trade-ins
The price might be high, but the demand appears even higher.
Protesters call for nationwide strike against Trump's immigration policies
The demonstrations are calling for “no work, no school, no shopping” on Friday.
US Senate scrambles to reach funding deal as partial shutdown deadline looms
Killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good prompted Democrats to block passage of a measure funding DHS
Schumer says both parties ‘working to get it done’ as Senate GOP works to resolve funding holdup ahead of midnight deadline
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he entered the US Capitol on Friday that Democrats are pushing ahead on a funding deal to avert a prolonged government shutdown.
'Cool' science experiments to try in the snow, frigid temperatures
Action News reporter Corey Davis put on his science hat to test some interesting experiments that demonstrate the power of freezing temperatures.
The $2,900 Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold Phone Sells Out Online in Minutes
It might be shockingly expensive, but early signs suggest Samsung's phone with three screens is in demand.
CIO says academia has some lessons to teach health IT pros
"A significant portion of any leadership role is explaining the 'why' and 'how' of a change to diverse audiences," says Bruce Barnes of Brooke Army Medical Center, ahead of his HIMSS26 presentation on the value of higher education.
Warsh's challenge: Navigating Fed independence and Trump's demands
Kevin Warsh has sought the job of Federal Reserve chair, off and on, since President Donald Trump first considered him for the position nearly a decade ago
Dow to cut 4,500 jobs, forecasts weak revenue amid sluggish demand
The job cuts come as the company streamlines work processes by using automation and AI to lower costs and improve efficiency.
Science-based vaccine policy passes first hurdle in the state legislature
The proposal is Colorado Democrats’ response to the Trump administration’s vaccine changes.
Tech CFOs face a new challenge: Selling unprecedented capex as ‘disciplined’
Meta and Microsoft CFOs frame AI spending as disciplined, demand-driven.
Oregon businesses and students join general strike Friday to protest immigration enforcement
Multiple nationwide organizations are calling for businesses to close and people to walk out of school and work to protest mass deportations and violence against demonstrators.
The Next Crisis Won’t Wait: Why Pandemic Preparedness Is a Business Imperative
Global health security —the ability to protect against the negative impacts of disease outbreaks — is too important to be left solely to the public sector. Industry has a vital interest in helping countries better prepare for future epidemics and pandemics.
Activists call for a nationwide ‘blackout’ to protest against Trump’s violent immigration crackdown
Organizers say the demonstration is part of a growing non-violent movement
From Catastrophe to Comeback: Tank Dell’s Road to Redemption
All of the Feelings: Emotional Diversity Linked to Health
A growing body of research demonstrates that feeling a wide range of positive emotions in a single day is linked to health and well-being.
DePaul and BIG EAST to Host National Girls and Women in Sports Day Game Presented by Invesco QQQ Feb. 4
The BIG EAST Conference will partner with Invesco QQQ and DePaul to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Wednesday, Feb. 4. The DePaul women's...
In one South Carolina county, measles starts to feel like next pandemic
Health experts fear a future where measles outbreaks keep taking over towns with low vaccination rates.
How Trump's Tom Tiffany endorsement scrambles Wisconsin governor race
Tom Tiffany is now running alone in the Republican field for governor while seven Democrats battle it out. Here's how that changes the race.
How liberals lost the internet
In the first part of our series on digital politics, we look at how centrists have lost ground fighting disinformation – when the real battle is over emotion and attention, says digital media academic Robert Topinka
Can Science Still Afford Serendipity?
Serendipitous observations have shaped science for centuries. What happens to such discoveries when the academic atmosphere leaves no room for detours?
Live and dead pests found in kitchen of restaurant ordered to shut down by Metro Health
Metro Health inspectors issued demerits to two different restaurants in January after finding multiple live and dead pests, including roaches, in the kitchens.
Sean Hannity: Democrats’ anti-ICE outrage is pure political theater
Fox News host Sean Hannity dissects how Democrats’ anti-I.C.E. ‘outrage’ is detached from reality on ‘Hannity.’
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties Dev Acknowledges Demo's "Graphical Issues", Launch Update Planned
It "does not represent the final experience"
California Democrats help lead counter-offensive against Trump immigration crackdown
Democrats seized on a growing sense, shared by some Republicans, that the campaign has gotten so out of hand that the political winds have shifted heavily in their favor.
Senate Democrats and White House strike deal to avert shutdown, continue ICE debate
The deal could be approved by the Senate as early as Thursday night, but would still need House approval before midnight Friday to avert another government shutdown.
Testing the system: regional simulation exercises advance global health security
These exercises – South-East Asia Regional Practice of All-Hazard IHR Event Communications (SAPHIRE), Joint Assessment and Detection of Events (JADE) in the European Region, and IHR Exercise Crystal in the Western Pacific Region – bring together National Focal points (NFPs), who play a critical role under the IHR in safeguarding global health security. These annual exercises stress-test IHR event communication procedures and contingency plans, demonstrating a sustained commitment by countries to strengthening preparedness and learning.
The Observatory and WHO Ukraine reflect on productive partnership and continued collaboration
Why have some health systems coped better than others during the COVID-19 pandemic? Some answers might become clear if we could assess how resilient health systems are in response to crises or shocks, such as the current pandemic and other emergencies, including financial ones, or how well health systems were prepared for such events in the first place. The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies has just published a new policy brief, “Strengthening health systems resilience”, which includes a framework to help policy-makers understand health system resilience and how to strengthen it. This policy brief highlights the key features of resilience and provides examples of strategies which have been applied in different countries.
Democrats, White House strike deal that would avert shutdown
The two sides agreed to separate homeland security funding from the rest of the legislation and fund it for two weeks while they debate Democratic demands for curbs on ICE.
Gainesville businesses to join nationwide shutdown to protest ICE
Several Gainesville businesses will close Jan. 30 in solidarity with a nationwide protest against ICE, with demonstrations planned locally Jan. 30–31.
Senate blocks federal funding bills as deadline to avert shutdown looms
The funding package failed 55 to 45, with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats to block the bills
Science Politics communicates science, tech and policy to a broad audience | School of Foreign Service
Science Politics, a new STIA publication, blends academic rigor with journalistic storytelling to reach scholars, policymakers and the general public.
Science Politics communicates science, tech and policy to a broad audience | School of Foreign Service
Science Politics, a new STIA publication, blends academic rigor with journalistic storytelling to reach scholars, policymakers and the general public.
Groups Back Larson Challenger, Calling for Generational Change
Three outside political groups are backing Luke Bronin in his primary challenge to Representative John Larson, the 77-year-old Connecticut Democrat.
John Leguizamo under fire for demanding fans choose between him and ICE
John Leguizamo sparks controversy telling ICE supporters not to follow him or watch his movies. Fans remain divided over the actor's bold stance.
Democrats Block Spending Package as D.H.S. Talks Continue
With about 36 hours to go before a shutdown deadline, the funding legislation stalled while Democrats sought a deal with President Trump to rein in his immigration crackdown.
Democratic Governors Promise Accountability After Alex Pretti Killing
The chin-out rhetoric of Democratic governors about holding Trump administration officials responsible for violence in their cities may be more political than practicable.
Santa Rosa council endorses downtown zone that would permit to-go alcohol consumption
Consuming a beer or wine bought from a nearby establishment would be allowed in two public areas Friday through Sunday, with details still to be worked out.
Health care and academic workers share concerns over halt to H-1B visas in Texas
Since Houston is home to the world's largest medical center, ABC13 wanted to know how Gov. Greg Abbott's directive could affect operations.
FOX Sports Unveils Historic FIFA World Cup 2026™ Broadcast Schedule - Fox Sports Press Pass
Monumental Slate Features 340 Hours of Live First-Run Programming Across FOX Sports Platforms for This Summer’s Global Event All-New Record 70 Matches on Network Television and Unprecedented 40 Matches in Primetime Every Match will Stream Live and On-Demand in 4K on FOX […]
After assault on Ilhan Omar, Trump responds with another blame-the-victim conspiracy theory
President Donald Trump did it after the 2021 attack on the US Capitol. He did it after the 2022 attack on the husband of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He did it after the murder last month of filmmaker and Democratic activist Rob Reiner. And he did it again on Tuesday after an attack on another Democrat, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
Hy-Vee launches a new food health tool. How does it work?
A new online tool for Hy-Vee aims to help customers simplify evaluating their food choices for better health.
Mia Bonta pleads for ‘pandemic-level’ response to Feds’ gutting of Medi-Cal
Up to two million of the state’s lowest-income people may lose health insurance due to federal changes. Bonta wants to lead the charge to stop that.
Democratic Sen. Klobuchar says she's running for Minnesota governor after Gov. Walz dropped out
Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she’s running for governor of Minnesota
Sen. Amy Klobuchar launches her bid for Minnesota governor
Sen. Amy Klobuchar launched a Democratic bid for governor on Thursday, pledging to unify her state and move beyond a deadly battle with the federal government over immigration.
Amy Klobuchar Announces Run for Minnesota Governor
The Democratic senator, who signaled her bid after Gov. Tim Walz said he wouldn’t run again, talked about moving past political divides in a video announcement.
Civic Science Media: Reimagining How We Communicate Science
A 2022 award winner of the National Academies’ Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, J.D. Allen discusses his civic science media framework, his nuclear energy broadcast initiative, and how incorporating community engagement and solutions-focused journalism improves science storytelling.
Illinois job market loses momentum after year-end slide
Illinois shed jobs for a second straight month at the end of 2025, the sharpest pullback since the post-pandemic rebound began, even as Chicago’s job market proved more resilient.
‘What if I told you this school had no teachers?’: Is AI schooling the future of education — or a risky bet?
Alpha School, which purports to teach children academics using AI for two hours a day, has got the support of the Trump administration, but leaves some education experts and parents unimpressed.
Fall Sports of XC, FB, VB, & Soccer Earn Academic All-Big 12 Honors
IRVING, Texas – The Big 12 Conference has announced its Fall Academic All-Big 12 honorees for the 2025 fall semester, released Thursday.
The Memo: Minneapolis trauma shifts the politics of immigration
Public outrage over the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis is scrambling the politics of immigration. The Trump administration’s initial reaction to the Pretti killing, in partic…
Opinion | A ‘Fringe Epidemiologist’ on What’s Wrong With Public Health
Jay Bhattacharya, the N.I.H. director, says authorities broke the public’s trust in the Covid era. Now it’s up to outsiders to restore it.
Opinion | A ‘Fringe Epidemiologist’ on What’s Wrong With Public Health
Jay Bhattacharya, the N.I.H. director, says authorities broke the public’s trust in the Covid era. Now it’s up to outsiders to restore it.
Health Care Costs Tops the Public’s Economic Worries as the Runup to the Midterms Begins; Independent Voters Are More Likely to Trust Democrats than Republicans on the Issue
Heading into this midterm election year, the cost of health care tops the public’s economic anxieties and more than 4 in 10 voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, this KFF Health Tracking poll finds.
KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms
Looking ahead to the midterm elections, health care costs are the public’s top economic concern, and many voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote. On health care issues, including the cost of health care, voters currently trust Democrats more than Republicans, though neither party has an advantage on addressing the overall cost of living. Following the expiration of the ACA enhanced tax credits, two-thirds of the public say Congress did the “wrong thing” by not extending them.
The accidental climate scientist who uncovered an unexpected force of global warming
The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences has awarded the Crafoord Prize to climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan. He discovered a powerful force of global warming.
Rep. Ilhan Omar points finger at Trump's 'hateful rhetoric' after town hall attack
The man accused of carrying out the assault has social media accounts that include multiple photos in support of Trump and criticizing Democrats. The FBI is investigating.
Takeaways from CNN’s Minnesota town hall
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, in a CNN town hall Wednesday night, stood by the city’s sanctuary policies and repeated his demand that federal immigration agents leave the city.
Trump has 'dementia', is 'obsessed,' Ilhan Omar says following attack
The Minnesota Democrat’s comments come in the wake of an attack on her Jan. 27 where a man sprayed her with an unknown substance.
Josh Shapiro accuses JD Vance of giving 'comfort' to right-wing antisemitism
The Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is on a book tour promoting his memoir, which highlights his Jewish faith.
Plain Talk: 'Politics is noise'
On this Plain Talk, we were joined by outgoing North Dakota House Majority Leader Mike Lefor and Democratic-NPL U.S. House candidate Trygve Hammer.
Teen Mental Health and School-Based Services in California
About 3 in 10 California teens report serious psychological distress, yet significant gaps exist between the need for mental health care and receipt of services. This report examines teen mental health and access to care across demographic groups and describes how state and district funding have expanded school-based solutions.
Democrats demand major overhaul to ICE, as government shutdown risk skyrockets
Democrats in Congress are digging in against any funding deal with President Donald Trump this week that doesn’t include major changes to federal immigration enforcement – dramatically increasing the odds of a shutdown at week’s end.
Attack on Ilhan Omar Follows Years of Trump’s Targeting Her
President Trump has spent years demonizing and dehumanizing the Somali-born Democrat from Minnesota, fueling escalating threats against her.
Hillary Clinton and Tucker Carlson Speak at Saudi Business Forum
The Democrat and the hard-right commentator found at least one thing to agree upon as they spoke at a conference in Riyadh.
Republicans Gave ICE a Slush Fund. Democrats Want to Limit It.
The sweeping domestic policy law that Republicans muscled through Congress last year made ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in the country, with no strings attached.
NBA legend Manu Ginobili invests in sports performance hub with Miami FC stadium, academy and hotel
Shares of GE Vernova slide as investors focus on the wrong part of its business
Our focus is on the continued robust results from the power and electrification businesses, where demand is off the charts.
Fact check: Trump says Democrats don’t talk about affordability anymore (they do) because inflation is over (it isn’t)
President Donald Trump tried Tuesday to concoct an alternative reality on the subject of “affordability” – piling lie on top of lie to try to convince Americans that the issue has vanished.
Manu Ginobili among backers of new planned sports performance project in South Florida
Manu Ginobili is investing in South Florida’s potential with a new venture. The former San Antonio Spurs star is part of a group building the Sports Performance Hub in Homestead, Florida. It’ll be a next-generation sports, education and community development project. It will feature a 10,000-seat stadium for Miami FC, sports training facilities, a basketball facility, a boarding school and more. Groundbreaking is set for March, with plans to open in 2028. Ginobili, along with partners like Riccardo Silva and Juan Sebastian Veron, aims to connect sports training with academics. They believe Miami’s multicultural environment makes it an ideal location.
Tory peer’s punishment for fiddling expenses criticised as too lenient
Campaigners demand ‘real consequences’ for peer who claimed expenses for car journeys he did not take
The Two Big Decisions Facing Democrats Ahead of a Shutdown
Plus, senators work on a last-minute budget deal on immigration enforcement, and Tom Homan presented his list of demands to Minnesota leaders.
Dispatch available now for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 systems
Shop now on Nintendo.com or Nintendo eShop. Manage a group of ex-supervillains who are given one last shot at redemption!
National Institutes of Health Need Agencywide Strategy to Prioritize and Fund Pediatric Research, Says New Report
Childhood health is foundational to lifelong well-being. A new National Academies report makes recommendations on how NIH and Congress can best support pediatric health research and improve health outcomes through childhood and beyond.
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Scotts Valley solar cell company goes dark; passing the torch at Alta Organic Coffee
In her weekly look at Santa Cruz County business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on the demise of Ambient Photonics, notes a generational shift at a local coffee roaster and delivers names, numbers and events to know.
Inside the minds of two US Olympians — and how they achieve greatness
U.S. Olympians Erin Jackson and Alysa Liu demonstrate how different personality traits and cognitive styles can lead to elite athletic success.
Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
The Gen Z gender divide in politics
As Gen Z becomes older, a college student fears there will be less social cohesion and greater risks to democratic consensus.
MIAC celebrates fall sport student-athletes with Academic All-Conference distinction
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Student-athletes in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) continue to achieve in both athletics and the classroom.
An ousted energy regulator reflects on Georgia’s new power politics
Former utility commissioner Tim Echols talks climate change, the Republican party, and how the state will deal with rising power demand.